Pacquiao vs. Marquez: Why Pac-Man Must Finish JMM Early

When Manny Pacquiao (54-4-2) squares off with Juan Manuel Marquez (54-6-1) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Dec. 8, it will be the fourth installment of what has become one of the most memorable battles in boxing history.

This time, though, Pacquiao has no intentions of letting this fight go the distance; not after he was robbed by the judges in his previous fight against budding star Timothy Bradley.

If Pac-Man wants to answer all the doubters that say the veteran fighter has lost his edge, he needs to take the fight to Marquez in the early rounds and finish JMM with a vicious KO.

Understand what’s happened here, is the first three fights, Pacquiao won two and one was a draw. So, the one who was complaining about the officials was Marquez. Now, after the [Tim] Bradley fight, when everybody, including Manny, saw himself winning it easily, and it goes the other way, now Manny is troubled about the officials.

You have two fighters who don’t trust the judges and they’re going to take it in their own hands. You’re going to see two guys fight aggressively and go for a knockout. It means that Marquez is going to forget about counterpunching and go after and attack Manny. Marquez feels he has enough strength now, that he can take out Pacquiao. It’s not going to be anything like the first three fights.

Say what you want about Arum, but his comments are right on the money.

Not only does Pacquiao want a knockout win in this fight to answer the critics and regain his confidence, Marquez views this as his last chance at glory and will be fighting for a quick victory as well.

The kind of aggressive style needed for a KO victory will leave both men open to get hit by counterpunches, and each has to be ready to receive plenty of damage in their quest for a knockout.

Marquez and Pacquiao both have iron jaws, and they will need them in this bout.

While JMM has the experience and in-ring style to keep Pac-Man at bay, this is a different Pacquiao; he is fighting angry again and will be all over his opponent.